Abstract
We conducted a content analysis of the US military tobacco policies at the Department of Defense, each respective military service (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps), and their Major Commands (MAJCOM). Ninety-seven policies were evaluated using the Military Tobacco Policy Rating Form (MTPRF). More than three quarters addressed the following domains: (1) deleterious health effects of tobacco use; (2) environmental tobacco smoke; (3) designation of smoking areas; (4) tobacco prevention/cessation programs; and (5) smokeless tobacco. Few policies (2.1 per cent) mentioned relevant Department of Defense and respective service tobacco use prevalence statistics. Smoking as non-normative or incompatible with military service, the impact of tobacco use on military readiness, and the tobacco industry were addressed infrequently (6.2 per cent, 33.0 per cent, and 8.2 per cent, respectively). Future military tobacco policies should address important omissions of critical information such as the current service tobacco use prevalence, effects on readiness, and smoking as non-normative.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 334-349 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Journal of Public Health Policy |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Our research was supported by the National Cancer Institute (grant #s: 1. CA109153, Ruth Malone, PhD, Principal Investigator; and 2. CA109153-06, C. Keith Haddock, PhD, and Ruth Malone, PhD, Principal Investigators). The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the US Army, US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps, the Department of Defense, or the US government. A searchable database that provides access to all the collected policies is provided at http://www.ndri.org/ctrs/ibhr/index.html.
Keywords
- military
- policy
- tobacco control